Maybe this is really round 3, if you count the 2 previous "Talkative Thursdays"...I'm not sure how to count this. Anyway, I've got a few things to get off of my chest, so here goes...
If you had a really big test to take in a couple of days, and somebody (like your teacher) had taken the time to "re-word" all of the questions on said test, and then give you the chapter and page numbers on which to find the answers to said questions...would you act like somebody was beating you with a wooden spoon? If not, then you are obviously not one of my ninth-graders!
What I'm trying to say is that, by the time Caroline is old enough to need it, I am going to be an expert at the "I-just-want-you-to-do-the-best-you-can" speech. Add to that the "I-know-how-SMART-you-really-are-,-so-please-show-it" lecture. I've even resorted to telling them the TRUTH...that the amount of hard work and attention they put into their school work has a direct correlation to the amount of their future paychecks! You'd think the mention of $$$ would get their attention...nope, not really. I got the classic "I'm gonna get a basketball scholarship" reply. Fortunately, I had the heart (and mind) to tell the kid, "No. You're not.". I think the problem is they need MORE honesty in their lives. Too many of these kids live through the world of "reality" TV and video games.
I know the value of building a child's self-esteem, but I don't necessarily place it above the value of hard work and commitment. Sometimes I think it would be of more service to tell kids not just the good things will happen when they try and succeed, but what will most likely happen if the don't work hard.
Well, enough of that for now...excuse me while I climb down off the soapbox.
On a lighter note...I have a new student (been here 10 days) who is perpetually tardy to my class. I asked him today where he comes from before my class. My class is not very far away from his 1st period, so I told him it shouldn't be a problem for him to get here on time. He responded by saying that he "gets lost" on the way here. McHusband's solution (yes, I told him about it...former student of his)...get some yellow tape and draw him a line on the floor from one class to another. My reply...every square inch of floor in this school would be covered if we did this for all the supposedly "lost" students!
***3 more days!!!***
How funny and familiar! I have 5th graders who tell me that they won't need to know this bc they are going to the NBA. So I tell them that after one of my students DOES get into the NBA- I will slack up on them until then TOO BAD.
ReplyDeleteI guess goofy kids are everywhere.
You know, I just tell mine that you have to at least have a high school diploma to get into college, which could possibly lead to the NBA or NFL. But of course, there are those few players who get drafted out of high school. The kids think I don't know that and I'm from another planet.
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